Ismail Merchant Movies

In the time frame of a single day (from dawn to dust), the film records the wanderings of an Indian youth who sleeps on the beach, holds...

Satyajit Ray’s masterpiece the Apu Trilogy is widely considered one of the most important works in cinema history. In 1992, Ray was awarded the...

Historical context for The Remains of the Day.

The drama, adapted from a story by Katherine Anne Porter, tells of a Swedish immigrant who arrives on a small Texas farm at the turn of the century...

A British family is trapped between culture, tradition, and the colonial sins of the past.

Affluent American couple visit Goa, India to re-assess their marriage and meet a local girl who instigates a confrontation between the two.

Britain's top pop artiste, Tom Pickle, travels to Bombay, India, circa 1960s to learn to play the sitar from renowned maestro Ustad Zafar Khan.

Documentary about Merchant Ivory Productions, including interviews with the principals of the film production company and actors which have appeared...

Looks at the musical extravaganzas which constitute the main bulk of commercial cinema in India; in particular at the career of Helen, the undisputed...

In the Mumbai, India, tenement community of Pavanpul, young female courtesans sing, dance and perform sexual favors for male clientele. Directors...

This 14-minute film talks about the Hindu god Brahma's creation of life, the world and of course the first woman. Saeed Jaffrey narrates the story as...

An English novelist travels to Bombay to watch one of her novels translated to film. She chases after the movie's leading man while the screenwriter...

Prem, a young school teacher, is arranged married and begins the journey of learning the roles and responsibilities required of him.

Off-camera, a Western traveler tells us of hearing singing from his hotel window in Bombay. He searches for the source, and discovers a caste of...

This short documentary, shot in July 1976 at the Mannes College of Music on Manhattan's Upper East Side, marks the first collaboration between...

Nirad C. Chaudhuri expounds his views on culture, history, religion and society from a comparative perspective.